My training History: I trained less than one year before competing in my first powerlifting meet as a teenager back in 1983. Before leaving the sport partially due to injuries in 2005 I achieved my elitefts status in the 198,220,242,275 & 308 weight class. Throughout these years I did have a 3 year run in the bodybuilding world. I have  degenerative joint disease, have had two shoulder surgeries (right shoulder now needs replaced), one full hip replacement, knee surgery, and herniation's in all three regions of my spine, Bone spurs (all joints). I can't even begin to list the number of muscle tears I have had, surgical and non surgical.  I am "The Mashed Up Meathead" and this is my story. 

You can find my training log archives HERE and my most current training log posts HERE. 

My best lifts are behind be but my best training is yet to come. 

* Unless otherwise noted the tempo of the work sets is about 1/2 of what most would consider normal. In most cases, if I did the set with normal temp what I fail at with 8-10 reps in training I could do for 20 reps with a normal tempo. This is to keep the joint stress down while increase the stress on the muscle. I have found this to work best for me provided the conditions listed in my training history above.

Chest and Shoulder Training.

Bench press.

Five warm up sets with the bar, of ten reps. 95 pounds for three sets, five reps. 135 for three sets of five reps. 165 for five reps. 185 for ten reps. 205 for ten reps, and then 225 for ten sets of ten reps. This exercise was a bitch. I haven't benched this much volume in a very long time. I wanted to kind of see where my strength was. Where my strength endurance was. Actually where my bench is right now. I typically never do the bench press first. Which is why there were so many warm up sets, and why I kept the reps really high. To make matters worse I used  a prototype shoulder saver pad, that we're working on. Which is not like the shoulder saver pad that we sell right now. It is actually much harder to do than the shoulder saver we currently have, but it's still easier than benching off of your chest. Which my shoulder won't allow, so I kind of have mixed feelings on this. It should have been a little easier, but I'm really not in this for strength. At the same time I should be able to bench fucking 225 for ten sets of ten without feeling like my chest and triceps are going to explode before I'm done with it.

Machine press.

On this I use the Magnum Chest Press Machine. It's got a bi-angular motion, so the arms move a little bit independently of each other, but more importantly they come in together as you press up. The goal going into this was five heavy sets of five. I started with about a quarter of the stack and worked down to full stack for five sets of five. The last set was challenging. The last set I might have had one more rep in the tank. All the other sets I probably had two to three, maybe four reps in the tank.

Incline press with chains.

Once again I really like to use the Comfort Grip Handles on this. I can squeeze my hands better. I get a lot better pec contraction. I love the chains on this exercise, because it deloads at the bottom. Which takes the tension and the stress off of my shoulder, my AC joint. It allows more contraction in my pecs at the top. These handles also, because I can squeeze and pull them in together a little bit more, give me a better contraction feeling at the top. Three sets of eight to ten reps. All sets were to failure.

Machine flies.

One warm up sets of ten to fifteen repetitions. This was just to determine what the working weight was going to be. Selected the working weight. Which I knew I would fail somewhere between twelve to fifteen repetitions. Did three sets getting between twelve and fifteen repetitions. All sets were to failure. Added two plates to the machine and did one rep with an eight second eccentric, and then held a loaded stretch for a thirty count. Took the weight stack in half and repeated the same thing using one arm at a time. With this I did two sets with each arm, with an eight second eccentric, and thirty count loaded stretch. The reason for using one arm is I was able to use the other arm to get the working arm into a starting position.

Stretch push ups.

The way you do this exercise is you can either use hex dumbbells or push up handles. Just something that's going to allow you to use a fist grip, or even a ... Nah it needs to be the dumbbells or the press handles. A barbell will not work, and you'll see why here when I explain this further. You want to lower yourself into a stretch position, hold it for a two count, and just contract your pecs and come up about a quarter of the way. It's not a full push up in any way. It's just a short, small pec contraction. You want to contract slowly. You don't want to contract very explosively or very hard, because this is really stressful on your pecs. For me it's extremely stressful on my pecs, because I've torn them both. I have to be really careful on this, and I only do sets of three reps. I did eight sets with three repetitions, and just try to ... I'm trying to reeducate and get that muscle to contract the best I can, while once again getting little bit of a loaded stretch.

Rear delt raises using the rear delt machine.

Three sets of fifteen repetitions. The first two sets I left two repetitions in the tank at the end of each set. The third set I went to failure at around thirteen reps.

Front shoulder raises using kettle bells.

Using the kettle bells for the front raises places less stress on my shoulders, than using dumbbells. It's the leverage and the way that the weight and the center of gravity is positioned. I still don't go all the way up to head level. I'm probably raising the dumbbells to right around upper chest level. That's enough for me to get the contraction that I need while keeping the stress off the shoulders. Four sets, twelve to fifteen repetitions. Each set to failure using slower tempo than I would normally use on any other exercise.

Seated shoulder presses with a neutral grip.

Three warm up sets of five repetitions. Working up to a weight that I knew I would be able to do for at least two sets of twelve. I did four sets of ten repetitions. Each set was one to two reps shy of failure.